Pushups effective?

Before we go any further, let me ask you this...

[QUOTE="VisigothSaxon"]

I have an insane ammount of endurance from my weightlifting alone...plus I get the extra endurance from jump roping and kick-boxing.

Palantas

How do you know you have an insane amount of endurance from your weightlighting, when you also do dedicated cardio and martial arts? Have you ever tried cutting out one or the other for six months or a year and evaluated how your fitness changed?

EDIT: Formatting. Let me also say, that I agree with most of the stuff you've said in this thread, just not the part about lifting turning you into a cross country runner.

Okay I am back from my workout.

Because I mostly do Weightlifting for my endurance now and don't do as many cardio workouts as I used to, when I do these cardio workouts every now and again such as a 40 min kickboxing workout, my endurance is just as good. So the weightlifting is obviously maintaining that level of endurance, but beyond that I have noticed my weightlifting endurance has improved a lot. I can tell this by doing workouts where I do minimal rest, high reps, and the same amount of weight as usual, I can see the improvement in that I am less tired, have more breath, and most importantly my muscles aren't as fatigued.

Sure, I might not have as good of running endurance as someone that is always running, but that doesn't mean I have terrible endurance with running, I just have all around good endurance. I mean any type of exercise or workout your body isn't used to, is going to fatigue you more. That's why in weightlifting it is good to change the exercises because it shocks the muscles works them out differently and fatigues them more. My point is, I am not saying weightlifting makes you a cross country runner, but it does improve your overall endurance and builds a strong healthy heart and muscles. I also don't believe that having a lot of muscles means you have no endurance(its a common misconception) it can actually be quite the opposite it just depends on how you are weightlifting.

I find that doing free weighted heavy compound chest exercises blow away any gains that pushups can possibly give you. Unless you are stacking some kind of heavy weight on top of you while doing pushups, and increasing the weight week after week, you are honestly better off doing some good ole Bench exercises. If you are trying to work your chest, do heavy compound exercises like some of these:

*Barbell Bench Press (this is a king compound exercises for chest)

*Dumbell Bench Press

*Incline Dumbell and Barbell Press

*Decline Bench Press

They all essentially work the chest, but each at a different angle. Change up the order in which you do these these every few weeks.

You can also do some close-grip bench for your Tricep workouts. Also Skull Crushers are a great exercise. :)

I just got back from having a glass of brandy, so here goes...

Sure, I might not have as good of running endurance as someone that is always running, but that doesn't mean I have terrible endurance with running...I also don't believe that having a lot of muscles means you have no endurance (its a common misconception) it can actually be quite the opposite it just depends on how you are weightlifting.

VisigothSaxon

Based on the first statement there, I think we're coming to an understanding. You posted your personal experience in all this, so let me give you mine...

After the Iraq invasion, we got settled down into SASO (peacekeeping) in Mosul. For over six months, I couldn't run, because I was cooped up in a little compound most of the time. For much of that time, I was in a line unit, so when I wasn't on patrol, I didn't have much to do (and this was early on in the Iraq thing; no Internet or any fancy stuff like that). We got some gym equipment off the local economy, so I started lifting, a lot. I got some supplements mailed in, and I was hitting it really hard, seven days a week, at least an hour twice, occasionally three times a day (like I said, not much to do).

Anyway, I got very strong and cut. We redeployed, and normal Army PT started up again...and I couldn't run to save my life. My first three-mile run about killed me. I ran with a 45-year-old master sergeant, and he had to slow down for me, a lot. In my opinion, there wasn't really anything I could have done in my lifting that would have made those three and five-mile runs right after redeployment any easier. I totally slacked off on my cardio on that deployment. I could have run stairs, jump rope, or done combatives (like you), but I didn't. I just lifted, and my endurance suffered, greatly.

So there's my story. I know it's not scientific. In response to the latter part of your post I quoted, I know beefy guys who run like the wind. I've also seen lots of beefy guys who can't run for ****. It all depends on your workout.

well if you're pretty fat you should do some cardio work.

Yes I agree, regarding the poor running cardio, thats just the side effect of your muscles not being used to running and I am sure you still had pretty good endurance all around, weightlifting that much. The running was just a shock to the muscles because they hadn't done that type of exercise in so long, I bet it didn't take very long to get the running enurance back though.

Edit:Although, atleast we are seeing more eye to eye now. Do you only do running now, do you not hit the weights anymore?

better then nothing but it misses a lot of major muscle groups

Bump, I am interested to see what the TC deides to do.

Pushups are effective at gaining muscle, but you REALLY have to push youself (no pun intended) if you want fairly decent results. You've got to consistently do your max and switch up the pushup type taking only about 30 seconds to one minute breaks every few sets. You'll have to do this for about 20 - 30 minutes straight. Its difficult, but I did this a few times a week over the summer and gained some serious pectoral muscle.My chest is nowhere nearbodybuilder status, but when compared to the lack of muscle in my chest before the summer and after, there was a significantincrease.